>> seriously, you want to hit this? are you kidding me? as you can see, he didn't accent the offer of pot. colorado is one of two states where recreational marijuana is legal. the president did have a beer with governor john hickenlooper and the two played a game of pool. president obama won, by the way. thanks for watching. "wolf" starts right now. right now, president obama is getting ready for a trip to texas. on his agenda, fund-raising events and the meeting with the texas governor rick perry to talk about the immigration crisis. but will the president add a last-minute pit stop to see some of those unaccompanied children along the u.s./mexico border. also right now, israel ramping up for a possible all-out war. the president of israel, shimon peres, says a ground offensive on gaza could happen, in his words, quite soon. and right now, a u.s. marine is being held in a mexican prison for crossing the border with

firearms. is that marine waiting to find out his fate, why he's now hopeful he'll be released. hello, i'm wolf blitzer reporting from washington. president obama confronts a humanitarian and political crisis when he arrives in texas in just a few hours. the president will focus on the surge of undocumented and unaccompanied kids crossing the border into the united states. he'll meet with a republican governor rick perry and faith leaders. but he will not travel to the border, at least not now. that, according to white house officials, to see the situation firsthand. that decision, though, is generating lots of political backlash. here's what republican senator john cornyn of texas said on cnn's "new day." >> this is a real crisis and the president needs to treat it as such and i think traveling from dallas to the border, it's a 500-mile trip.

it's not far to go on air force one. would help him understand, you know, presidents sometimes live in a bubble and i think right now the president's looking at this through more of a political lens rather than a policy lens. he knows what to do. and he should go to the border and show his commitment to solving the problem. >> let's begin our coverage this hour, with our white house correspondent michelle kosinski who's standing by. the president spoke in denver. i know he had a brief comment about this current immigration crisis. >> yes, we didn't think this was going to come up. he was talking about trying to help the middle class. then he started slamming republicans for what he characterized as their failure to act and he brought up the border crisis. here's what he said. >> congress just said no to fixing our broken immigration system. in a way that strengthens our borders and our businesses. despite the fact that everybody from law enforcement to corporations to evangelicals. there's a coalition around immigration reform that's unprecedented. these guys still can't get their

act together. >> it's become this real back and forth. the white house is blaming house republicans for holding up comprehensive immigration reform, which would include a big piece on border security, but republicans and other critic, of the president are saying really it's this administration's fault that the problem was able to get to this level in the first place, why aren't they enforcing the laws that already exist, wolf. >> the president also getting ready for a meeting once he gets to texas with governor rick perry. that's got a lot of back and forth going on right now. what does the president hope to come out of this meeting. >> the politics of this. it first came up that the governor wasn't going to greet the president when he arrivemillion texas around 5:00 eastern time tonight. then he sent a letter saying a handshake isn't going to do anything, let's you and i sit down and talk this out. that's what perry wrote to the president. then the white house said, other now the president is inviting governor perry to a meeting. so it's almost like it's clear that the white house does not

want to bend to all this political pressure. so what the president did was invite perry to a meeting already scheduled with community leaders in dallas, texas. so perry's going to go to that. what perry sort of more wanted was either a trip to the border or some kind of one on one. it's unclear if that one on one in any form is going to happen, wolf. >> and the president still, as of right now, the white house has not announced the last-minute decision, change in his plans to go down to the border, is that right? >> right. i mean, the white house has been careful to say, well, we'll let you know if plans change. there's nothing on the schedule right now. last week, they were saying, oh that could change. so it seemed like they were leaving some room open to do something. with all this pressure, senators openly saying go to the border, the white house obviously doesn't want to react to that, certainly, they want to do something on their own terms. but what that will be is just unclear right now, wolf. >> because he is coming under a lot of criticism, scheduled

three political fund-raisers in texas, but no time to go to the border. how are they dealing with that criticism? it's not just coming from republicans either. >> right, that's all become wrapped up within that harsh, now, criticism. so they're not addressing the fund-raisers, but they're saying there's no need for the president to visit the border. other top administration officials already have, and they say the president is well briefed on the situation, wolf. >> we'll see if that changes over the next few hours. michelle, thanks very much. the u.s. southern border is the epicenter of this huge immigration crisis. between 60,000 and 80,000 unaccompanied children are expected to cross over into the united states this year. our correspondent, alina mochoto, has the view from mission, texas, that's just across the border from mexico. >> reporter: we're right in the middle of the immigration crisis, right on the rio grande, on one side, you have the mexican border, on the other side of the river, where we are, you have the u.s. tens of thousands of

undocumented children are expected to cross alone into the u.s. this year. and many of them, when they end up in the u.s., end up in the care of faith-based organizations. there's growing concern about how long these organizations are going to be able to sustain this level of help. take a listen. >> what's going to happen when the faith organizations run out of money, when the donations no longer come, when you no longer have volunteers? the burden will be on cities. we're not going to raise taxes. if we use some tax money, and we're tight for money now, how are we going to get reimbursed? that's the challenge that we face. >> reporter: that's a challenge that likely isn't going to go away any time soon. here on the border, there's a very strong presence by the border patrol. we've seen border patrol boats going up and down the river all morning long. and also, even helicopters searching for people who may be crossing the border. alina machado, cnn, mission, texas. >> will this immigration crisis

turn into president's so-called hurricane katrina moment? a democratic congressman, yes, a democratic congressman, says he's afraid it could. up next, we're going to hear live from congressman henry thayer of texas. later, israel's president now hinting israeli ground troops could be moving into gaza very soon. we're going live to jerusalem. vo: this is the summer. the summer of this. the summer that summers from here on will be compared to. where memories will be forged into the sand. and then hung on a wall for years to come. get out there, with over 50,000 hotels at $150 dollars or less. expedia. find yours. i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out

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some lawmakers are actually comparing president bush's initial mishandling of hurricane katrina with president obama's decision not to visit the border in response to this major immigration crisis ongoing right now it even one democratic congressman says he hopes the border crisis doesn't become the president's so-called katrina moment. that congressman, representative henry thayer of texas, is now joining us live from capitol hill. congress n m congressman, thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you, sir. >> let me start with the search for solution, to this crisis. it's a real humanitarian nightmare that's going on. listen to what senator ron johnson of wisconsin said today at a hearing on border security. listen to this. >> i can't think a more humane

thing to do, even though it maybe sounds a little cruel, but then to deter parents from sending their children to the united states. i can't think of a better way to deter parents from doing that, is to literally take these minors, identify where they came from, you know, i've gone online. it costs $207 on a one-way trip in terms of plane flight. return them to the country of origin. >> ways yohat's your reaction t proposal? >> this is what i've been asking for for a long time. if you look at the law, the law says border patrol will say if they catch somebody from mexico, for example, they will return children, families, adults, back to mexico. if you're from a noncontiguous country, central america, border

patrol has to sign them over to hhs and there's a complicated process. what i've been calling for is let's change the law, tweak it, where border patrol has the ability to determine everybody -- or determine folks at the border. we're doing that with mexicans. we've been doing that for a long time. nobody's complained. let's treat everybody the same. if we do get the children, we got to take care of those young kids, without a doubt. because i've seen young girls, young boys, i mean, just, as a father, it's just very, very difficult situation, to see the young kids in that situation, and keep in mind, hhs has told us, officials have told us, about one-third of those young girls that come across are abused on the way up there. they're just innocent little babes. and it's just very heartbreaking. >> and you've been -- that's your district down there right along the border with mexico. you believe that the president, while he's in texas, he's about to arrive, he's got time for three political fund-raisers. he should make some time, maybe

skip one of those fund-raisers and go down and see what's going on. you really want him to do that, right? >> i really do. look, he's going to be in austin. that's 242 miles away from the border. he's going to be in dallas. that's 500 miles away from the border. and, again, if he had time, with all due respect, to have a beer, play pool, like he did in colorado last night, then i think after the fund-raisers, then i think he should make time to go down there. and, again, i've always said this, that a leader will be judged on how he handles a crisis. either he can roll up his sleeves and go down there to the border, or he can look detached and say that everything's under control and surrogates have gone down to the border, but i think he has to see what i have seen through my own eyes and when you see young innocent kids have been put in that situation, then i think he needs to do that. plus, let me say this, the flow

hasn't stopped. there's still about 48,000 individuals that are coming through the texas border every month. 9,700 of them are kids with no parents. so the flow has not stopped. there's not enough immigration judges down there. i don't see the results. and therefore until we see some results, i think the president shouldn't be down there at the border. >> and you've suggested this could be his so-called katrina moment where he looked detached, sort like the way former president bush did in the initial aftermath of katrina when he flew over what was going on, didn't stop to see what was going on. i know you're coming under a lot of pressure from officials at the white house. you're a democrat. what are they saying to you? are they basically saying to you, congressman, don't talk like this? what are they telling you? >> well, i'm associationsorry, t to go into discussion, but i will say this , i can understan there's a few folks who might be upset by my request for him to go to the border, but, again,

i'm more concerned -- i want to put political party after what's in the best interest of the country. and i think the best interest of the country is to have a leader go down to the border, see exactly what's happening. because it is a humanitarian crisis. as a parent, when you see young girls and young boys without parents there that have gone through a very difficult situation, then i think people need to see exactly. put a face to the humanitarian crisis and not look aloof, with all due respect, and not look attached, and still put out pictures playing pool, drinking a beer, and i think he ought to make the time. and if he has dug in and say, i'm not going to do it on this trip, then i think immediately sometime he should go down to the border. i think the border crisis, the border humanitarian crisis, calls for this visit. >> congressman henry queller of

texas, the democratic, not caving in to pressure from the white house. it's a heartbreaking situation in your district, elsewhere. we're going to stay on top of this story. we'll get white house reaction later this hour. thanks very much for joining us. >> thank you so much, wolf. >> the congressman mentioned that, the border could potentially be the president's so-called cat trikatrina moment. the former mayor of new orleans during the katrina episode was handed some very bad news today. he was sentenced to ten years in prison. nagin was found guilty in february of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and other favors. prosecutors say nagin and his administration took gifts in exchange for city contracts worth more than $5 million. he'll report to prison on september 8th. coming up, we're going to get the white house's reaction ton the crisis at the border. what we just heard from congressman cueller, that's coming up. also, a wedding interrupted

by rocket fire. palestinians and israelis living in fear of attack and there doesn't seem to be any end in sight. we're going live to jerusalem. we're going live to gaza right after a quick break. [ male announcer ] don't just visit miami. [ jackhammer pounding, horns honking ] [ siren wailing ] visit tripadvisor miami. [ bird chirping ] with millions of reviews, tripadvisor makes any destination better. your studied day and night with millions of reviews, for her driver's test. secretly inside, you hoped she wouldn't pass. the thought of your baby girl driving around all by herself was... you just weren't ready. but she did pass. 'cause she's your baby girl.

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let's go to the middle east where the israeli prime minister netanyahu is vowing to intensify attacks against militants in gaza. israel's president shimon peres says a ground offensive could start soon. in just the past day, israel's military says it targeted around 160 suspected terror sites in gaza, while 130 rockets were fired into israel by militants inside gaza. take a look at this. [ sirens ] [ speaking foreign language ] [ explosions ] >> this video shows an israeli wedding being interrupted by sirens and a rocket intercepted overhead by israel's iron dome anti-missile defense system. bed wedeman from gaza.

i know only within the past few moments you've seen some air strikes going on behind you. ways going on? >> as for the past half hour, wolf, we've seen air strikes coming in. then a rocket being fired not far from where we're standing. and afterwards, while we were live for cnn international, more rockets coming -- rather, incoming rockets coming in behind me. so it does seem -- the pace has picked up quite dramatically so far this evening. it was relatively quiet this afternoon, but in other parts of gaza, for instance, in the northern part of gaza, near the israeli border where we were this afternoon, quite a lot of outgoing and incoming as well. according to palestinian medical sources, 17 people killed so far today. apparently seven of them, children.

so sort of tit-for-tat back and forth continues. what we're seeing on the streets of gaza, many less people out and about than yesterday. many less cars. most of the shops are closed. the banks are closed. it appears that people in gaza are bracing for much worse to come. wolf. >> that could be a ground invasion. is there any indication that hamas, the leadership there in gaza, where you are, ben, might stop launching rockets into israel? >> well, we heard halad michelle, who's not in gaza, he's in qatar, in a speech today saying they were sort of quoting the same sort of expression that netanyahu uses. he says, we will meet quiet with quiet. but hams has conditions as well. they want all those who have been rounded up by israeli forces in the west bank since the june 12th kidnapping of those three israeli teenagers

who were subsequently found murdered, they want those people released. they want an end to the operations in the west bank. they want an end to the israeli operation in gaza. so some conditions there. but he said, quiet for quiet. wolf. >> we'll see what happens on that front. ben wedeman, stay safe over there in gaza. israel's president peres says there's no room for compromise when israel, as he says, is constantly under fire with these rockets and missiles. let's bring in cnn international's becky anderson, now reporting from jerusalem. i know you had a chance to sit down with president shimon peres a little while ago. what did he say about the prospects of this getting even worse? >> well, wolf, let's be clear here, he doesn't speak on behalf of the executive office here. this is a ceremonial title. his opinion is clearly important. what he told me was that this is not israel's fault. israel blames hamas for the abduction and murder of the

three teenagers and the ratcheting up of what is this crisis now. i wanted to find out from him just how close he thought we were at this point to this really getting very, very bad. this is what he told me. >> under what circumstances do you believe a ground offense or do you know a ground offensive will begin? >> if they won't stop the missiles, then we're going to attack. i'm not going to tell you when and where but that's the logical conclusion. >> world should expect to see a ground offensive at any time from the israelis? you've called up reservists. >> whatever we can do. without ground forces we shall do. so we waited. we didn't start the war today. they started it already several days ago. and they continue. and they spread the fire on more

areas than israel. >> how long will israel wait? >> until we shall reach, or the moment we shall reach a conclusion that this should be the next step. we shall not talk dates. it may happen quite soon. >> and, wolf, we contacted the prime minister's office here for complete transparency. they had nothing to add to the remarks by president shimon peres. so he is certainly not ruling out what could be an imminent ground offensive by israeli forces. you heard me alluding there to the fact that in the past 48 hours israel has called up 40,000 reservists. they say only 1,000 of them will be commissioned any time soon. but certainly that gives them the opportunity to ratchet this up if they believe that is needed. wolf. >> are you hearing, becky, of any behind of scenes cease-fire

negotiations under way, whether through the egyptians, whether through qatar, whether through any other third party? is anything happening to bring about a cease-fire? >> you make a very good point. i was in cairo just in the last 48 hours. i flew in here today. i was speaking to the egyptian foreign minister. now, we need to remind ourselves that it was egypt in the past who has played a very big role in mediating any sort of progress in these peace talks. morsi back in 2012, the deposed president of egypt, who was able to broker a cease-fire with hamas, of course, he is a muslim brotherhood member and party to that. of course, in the past, mubarak, who has played a significant role. but absolutely no suggestion at this stage that the new al sisi government is going to do that

any time soon. and really quite specific about that, they want to see action from their side from the international community and now. wolf. >> all right, becky anderson reporting from jerusalem for us. thanks very much. earlier our own michael holmes had a chance to get the reaction from hamas. found its leaders are not yet ready to call off the rocket attacks. listen to this. >> if the israelis continue their attacks, the palestinian people will defend themselves. not only hamas, all the palestinians. if the israelis stopped and there was a clear cease-fire, the palestinians would deal with that. without this, there is no chances for the palestinians to live under the israeli attack without reacting against that attack. >> the spokesman for hamas blaming israel for breaking a 2012 cease-fire agreement. that cease-fire agreement brokered by the then egyptian government. the united states was also

involved behind the scenes. it ended eight days of fighting that killed around 150 people during that fighting, most of those people who were killeded were palestinians. still ahead, the president will visit texas today, but he also has some major fund-raising visits on his itinerary. our senior analyst ron brownstein standing by to weigh in. we'll also get the white house reaction.

welcome back. i'll wolf blitzer reporting from washington. president obama is heading to texas for a fund-raising trip. the state is at the heart of a huge immigration debate. the trip comes one day after the president asked congress for almost $4 billion in emergency spending to help deal with the flood of immigrants crossing the border illegally right now. many of those, unaccompanied children. while the president will meet with texas governor rick perry today to discuss the situation, the obama administration says there are no plans to visit the border right now, where there has been this influx of unaccompanied minors. a lot of kids coming across. let's bring in our cnn political analyst ron brownstein, the editorial director of "the

national journal." the trip under a lot of criticism. he's got three fund-raisers in texas other the next day. no type ime to go to the border right now. how much of a political liability has this visit to texas become? >> i think the visit is uncomfortable for all the reasons you suggest. there's really a much deeper problem. that this border crisis i think has thrown a big curveball into their overall strategy on immigration it from the beginning, obama approached immigration refor, he has laid out with unusual candor probably most explicitly in a may 20th speech in el paso in which he said look, the republicans have said we have not controlled the border. we're going to put a lot of sources into doing that and we're going to take away that argument from them. he's accepted a lot of heat from the left throughout his presidency, as you know, for intensifying enforcement at the border. that would be the backdrop to say, okay, now we can deal with the 11 million or so who are here who are undocumented which

he says he bt whwants to addres through executive order later this year. this crisis of the border gives the sense once again the border is not secure and it creates a much tougher political dropout as they move forward on the undocumented themselves. >> let me play that clip from the speech on immigration in may of 2011 in el paso. listen to this. >> here's the point. i want everybody to listen carefully to this. we have gone above and beyond what was requested by the very republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement. all the stuff they asked for we've done. but even though we've answered these concerns, i've got to say, i suspect there are still going to be some would are trying to move the goal posts on us one more time. >> you correctly point out, he's

been criticized by the left, by the base of his democratic party, for all the deportations he's authorized over the past, what, nearly six years. some have called the president deportation. he's getting heat from both sides. is there any possibility there can still be comprehensive immigration reform this year? >> i don't think so. i mean, look, the fight we're having now is the miniature version of the fight we've had for the entire six years. in fact, until this crisis with unaccompanied children, they have made crisis with securing the border. the net number of people here illegally has not changed under his presidency, after rising by about 3 million during the eight years of george w. bush. he could say, look, i was making some progress. it turned out that was not enough to move house republicans. 80% of which represent districts that are more white than the national average to act. and now he's back in the same box where he's proposing te inir enforcement so he can say, i've got a handle on this.

for example, a lawsuit filed today by the american civil liberties union and other groups saying these kid all deserve a lawyer and he's pushing back to say, look, i'm enforcing, i'm going to be tough on enforcement, to leave himself room to come forward on dealing with those here illegally. it is the same conundrum he's forced the whole time. alien eigates the left but does bring over the right. >> a lot of officials are upset they didn't push for comprehensive immigration reform during the first four years of the obama administration when there was a democratic majority in the house. do you hear a lot of that griping, they should have pushed at that time when they had those majorities? >> look, they did health care reform, and -- >> why can't you do more than one -- why can't you do more than one controversial thing? >> i think basically the -- at that point, there were a lot more red state and red district

democrats and they threw up their hands and say, we have taken enough tough votes. health care is important to hispanics too. they're one-third of all the uninsured in the country. so it is not an easy choice. there's no question i think they thought they would have more leverage on house republicans. particularly after the 2012 election. mitt romney won a higher share of the white vote. the initial impulse was we have to deal with this before 2016. that's still probably true. the fact republicans are not dealing with this in a comb prehence imway could still be a huge problem for them in 2016 even as it is an enormous headache for obama now and heading into a midterm election that will focus mostly on red states. >> ron brownstein, thanks very much, good analysis. coming up, the white house responds to the criticism surrounding the president's trip to texas today. a white house official standing by to speak with us live. then, the u.s. marine jailed for bringing firearms into mexico

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could help your business didavoid hours of delaynd test caused by slow internet from the phone company? that's enough time to record a memo. idea for sales giveaway. return a call. sign a contract. pick a tie. take a break with mr. duck. practice up for the business trip. fly to florida. win an award. close a deal. hire an intern. and still have time to spare. check your speed. see how fast your internet can be. switch now and add voice and tv for $34.90. comcast business. built for business. the senate homeland security committee wants answers on the border crisis. a top obama official admitted the administration is struggle keep up with the surge of immigrants at the southern border. listen to this. >> we've added in cooperation

with all the partners about 3,000 additional beds for children and families. numbers have come down, but we still faced a problem of too many children that are in detention for more than 24 hours. too many children that are still within the custody of cbp for more than 72 hours before they're placed. although we have made progress, that progress is oftentimes disrupted when we see sudden influxes of kids coming in faster than we can discharge them and we back up. the last week we've seen numbers drop, but we've not been, what i would say, successful yet in ensuring that no child is in the detention facility for more than 24 hours. >> all this comes the same day as the president is visiting texas. i'm joined now by cecilia munoz, the director of the white house domestic policy council. thanks very much for joining us. >> thank you. >> any last-minute change in plans, will the president go down to the border with mexico?

>> the president is, among the things he's doing, is meeting in dallas with faith-based leader, people trying to be part of the solution here, trying to find shelter space for children, being supportive of the federal government's efforts to make sure we provide proper care for the kids, while also getting in front of this as a law enforcement situation. >> so as of right now, no plan, to visit the border, is that right? >> that's correct. look the president has been focused from the i have beginning, from the moment it was clear in may we were going to see much larger numbers this year compared to previous years. he's been focused on making sure we throw the whole government at this effort. you saw fema, multiple agencies involved in this effort, and yesterday he asked congress for supplemental appropriation, to make sure we have resources to care for the kids and also surge the immigration judges and other enforcement tools we need to send back those who aren't going to qualify for humanitarian reasons and be sure they're

settled in their home countries. >> what do you take to democratic congressman from texas, he was on the program, he said this could essentially be called a katrina moment for the president, where he looked detached, he's there, he's going to be in dallas, and he doesn't make the effort to see this h humanitarian crisis? >> i hope congressman cuellar is folk ugs ed, as we are, on what's going to be most impactful. making sure we provide proper care for the kids, provide an effective deterrent so people in central america aren't following the misinformation that smugglers are giving them, and putting their children into the hands of trafficker, because they're being told once they get to the united states they can expect to remain in the united states. that's not true. and that's contributing to what has become an ungent humanitarian situation. we want to make sure people know

not to put their kids in that situation in the first place, which is why the vice president was in central america in june 20th, which is why secretary johnson was in guatemala just yesterday, which is why secretary kerry met with leaders from the region in panama last week. we are dealing with this -- with the real sense of urgency on both sides of the border. >> and so the criticism that henry cueller and others are making, he has time for political fund-raisers in texas, doesn't have time to go down to the border, you say? >> that the president is meeting with community leaders in texas who are trying to be part of the solution here. who supporting the efforts to take good care of these kids. and while the president was in denver yesterday and texas today, his team here is working with congress to address the supplemental appropriations that we need, hopefully in a bipartisan manner, to make sure we have the resources to surge immigration judges, surge enforcement resources, so they can properly repatriate people

we send back. the whole federal government is all over this situation. >> do you have a plan b if congress doesn't appropriate the $3.7 billion in emergency funding you're seeking to deal with this immigration crisis? >> indeed, we do. we're already surging the resources that we've got. you've heard the president announce in the rose garden more than a week ago when he addressed the situation that we're moving resources, enforcement resources, from the interior to the border. our priority is going to be crease addressing and removing those people who are recent entrants first and foremost. we're making the best use of the resources we've got. would be helpful for congress, we've heard both sides of the aisle say they agree this is an urgent situation. we need the support to have the resources to do everything possible to deter more from coming and properly address those who have come. >> another subject, a lot of buzz out there, you're the top domestic policy adviser to the president. when he was in denver last night, he was at a bar and

someone offered him a hit of marijuana, which as you know is legal in colorado and washington state. what does the obama administration think about the legalization of marijuana for recreational use? the president, by the way, smiled, but didn't react to that offer. >> he smiled and didn't react. this is a law enforcement issue as well. obviously, states are making their own decisions and the federal government will apply the law as appropriate. >> what do you think, should those laws in colorado and in washington state be approved elsewhere? would it be appropriate for the federal government to authorize recreational use of marijuana? >> it would not be appropriate for the federal government to do that, wolf. >> why? >> look, we have federal laws on the bookings with respect to these substances. and the states are making their own decisions but we're not going to address what -- the federal government take this on -- >> from the white house perspective, it's okay if the states legalize marijuana for

recreational use but the federal is not going to get involved? >> i work with the office of national drug control policy. i don't think they would say it's okay the states have done it but the federal government is not going to address this issue in the way states like colorado have. >> you're not going to challenge it though legally, right? >> i'll leave that decision to the department of justice, wolf. >> all right, cecilia munoz, thanks very much for joining us, good luck to you there, appreciate you joining us. retaliation, harassment, missing paychecks. that's what whistleblowers claim they face after reporting on wrongdoing in the va. the latest on the scandal-plagued agency when we come back.

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see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. we would not have authorized that war. with 75 votes if we knew what we know now. >> that was democratic center, jay rockefeller, west virginia, ten years ago today, speaking after the u.s. senate intelligence committee released a scathing report accusing the cia, the entire u.s. intelligence community, of overestimating iraq's prewar stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. rockefeller called the war a mistake that would haunt the u.s. for generations to come. turning now it to the ongoing scandal at the department of veterans' affairs. much of what we know is because of a v.a. -- some v.a. employees who spoke out about understaffing, inadequate care,

phony bookkeeping. many find their jobs in jeopardy because, quote, a culture of retaliation inside the v.a. listen to what one physician told the house committee on veterans' affairs. >> the veterans needing care that presented to the er have survived campaigns like d-day, iwo jima, ted fences, counter offenses, croatia, desert storm, the battle of fallujah and dismal years in helmand province. it is a bitter irony to me that i as a physician could not guarantee their health and safety within a v.a. facility in the middle of cosmopolitan phoenix. >> our senior investigative correspondent, drew griffin, broke this story months ago. what happened at last night's hearing? >> well, the house was looking at these whistle blower investigations. there are 76 retaliation cases being taken up by the government that handles those cases and

tries to protect the whistle blowers. as we have seen time and time again, the whistle blowers are scared to come forward. because they have seen others whose careers have been ruined by vindictive management at many v.a. hospitals. several of those whistle blowers testified in that hearing last night, including a doctor named christian head, a top head and neck surgeon who spoke out about fraud at the v.a. of greater los angeles, and he says he was investigated and targeted. >> you notice that every time there is a whistleblower, there is usually an e-mail that follows, well, this person is not getting a bonus and so they're upset. or this person didn't get the raise they wanted. so, you know, they can be suspect. or this person didn't do this. they always defame. they defame, isolate. usually, transfer to another position. why? because they're slowly build a case if they don't have one

already to say that you're crazy. >> wolf, this is something we hear constantly from v.a. whistle blowers, they are ostracized, management tries to begin spreading the idea that whistle blowers are crazy and the v.a. takes its time. in fact, i talked with a whistleblower yesterday who told me she fears right now once the media takes its eye off the issue, v.a. management will revert to its old ways and destroy her career and others who have spoken out. >> a lot -- drew, a lot of this could be fixed with leadership from washington, as you have reported, so thoroughly. right now the v.a. only has an interim secretary, bob mcdonald, former ceo of procter & gamble, the person he wants as the next veterans' affairs secretary. any word on when mcdonald's nomination will actually be taken up by the senate? >> here's what we know. bob mcdonald met with senator bernie sanders yesterday. senator sanders heads the senate veterans' affairs committee.

that will eventually hold hearings on the nomination. sanders' staff told us they hope to hold those hearings soon. but as of yet, wolf new york dates to announce. and as you know, the senate is really running out of time before its summer break. so we'll see what happens next week, and in the couple weeks ahead. but that's where it stands right now. >> i know you're going to stay on top of this story for our viewers. drew, thanks very much. still ahead, a wrong turn into mexico heads right into a world of trouble. after three months of imprisonment, a u.s. marine now goes before a mexican judge who could decide his fate. "i've still got it" when you think aarp, then you don't know "aarp". life reimagined gives you tools and support to get the career you'll love. find more real possibilities at aarp.org/possibilities

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a u.s. marine who has been jailed for the past three months for illegally crossing into mexico with firearms arrived at court today in tijuana, handcuffed to other prisoners. it will be sergeant andrew at that mooresy's first opportunity. >> i'm going to give my statement to the judge, and then two of the border patrol officers that were supposedly there that night with me are going to give their statement as well. and hopefully the judge will see that my story is probably, you know, maybe like 99% accurate or 100% accurate and their stories are maybe like 15 or 20%

accurate. >> tam moory's weather has waged a campaign. her frustration with washington is evident in the piece she wrote. i feel like our executive branch has abandoned him and feels totally inhumane. the white house has not responded to us, despite our petition on white house.gov, which has nearly 130,000 signatures. cnn's nick parker is joining us from tijuana right now. nick, a lot of speculation the sergeant could be released soon. how likely is that? >> reporter: yeah, that's right, wolf. there certainly has been a lot of speculation. and certainly andrew's mother, jill, is expected to arrive in the federal courthouse just behind me any minute now. she is hoping she will be able to travel back to the united states with her son this afternoon. we spoke to his defense lawyer last night. his legal team. and they think it is unlikely he

will be released at this stage. and here's why. in about an hour's time, as you said, andrew tahmooressi will have the chance to present his side of the story. it's a slow process here and at the same time, he fired his original legal team. so nothing is in the court's record at this stage. and as a result, this is being described as an evidentiary hearing. and his defense team thinks that for that very reason it will be premature to ask the judge for a ruling. as you said, he's going to be getting this initial address. his defense team will be asking questions, as will the prosecution. but he is expected to plead the fifth amendment and not answer those questions. in terms of the overarching strategy of his defense team, they tell us that they are trying to prove he did not intend to bring these weapons into the country. and also, they're looking at another option, which is the idea of a botched arrest and a breach of protocol.

here's what his legal defense lawyer told us last night. >> how will you justify keeping somebody there for seven-plus hours for what purpose? if he was under arrest, he should have been delivered to the federal prosecutor's office immediately under article 16 of the mexican constitution. >> reporter: now, wolf, mexican authorities do maintain the crossing point between tijuana was clearly posted and there were warnings. they also point out that ignorance of the law does not excuse responsibility. wolf. >> nick parker on the scene for us outside the courthouse in tijuana, mexico. nick, as soon as you get any information, you'll let our viewers here in the united states and around the world know what is going on. high interest in the fate of this u.s. marine sergeant now being held in mexico. nick parker, thanks very much.

that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. i'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in "the situation room." i'm wolf blitzer reporting from washington. "newsroom" with brooke baldwin starts right now. all right, wolf. thank you so much. happy wednesday to all of you. i'm brooke baldwin. thanks for being with me. we begin with the president. president barack obama about to fly to texas and no matter how skilled the pilot is, it's clear the president is headed for rough landing. he is going to the state -- this is ground zero for the nation's immigration crisis where border facilities are inundated with these migrant kids illegally crossing into the united states. now, the president will be fewer than 400 miles from what his own people call an urgent humanitarian problem. quick trip on air force one. and yet he is not headed to see the